Monday, February 27, 2012

Colors of the Past


This is one of the earliest pieces of my art that I've ever featured on this Weblog. It is from 1969 and is a mix-up of things belonging to Lizzie, my friend at the time, as well as a portrait of her. In those days I always had my sketchbook and a set of colored pencils with me (as I do nowadays, but with the futuristic iPad) and when I did my friend's portrait I added in renderings of her current possessions as a kind of "time capsule." Lizzie lived in New York City, our parents were good friends, and it was always exciting to go visit her family. In the summer of 1969 we even visited them on a European vacation. Lizzie went on to be a financial consultant with a family and children of her own, and as far as I know still lives in New York City.

This "time capsule" has been in my sketchbook collection ever since. From upper left, clockwise: a heart motif from somewhere, Lizzie's portrait, her lipstick (or lip gloss), her teddy bear, a pillow with a cartoony nude, a copy of "Modern Love" magazine, and two 45 RPM records including a Capitol Records release, identified by its familiar orange and yellow spiral. "Modern Love" was a type of girls' magazine that has completely disappeared. It featured racy sex stories about young women. The headline of that cover said "16 - I do the wildest things to boys!"

This "collage" was not typical of my work in the sketchbook. Most of the drawings in there are of superheroes, superhero costumes, attempts at comic book pages, and later in the book a whole lot of life model drawings from about 1970 through 1972. Nothing much changes here at Pyracantha Studios.

Lizzie from 1969 is colored pencil on sketchbook page, 8 1/2" x 11", summer 1969.

2 comments:

emikk said...

Was that a beach boys 45?

Pyracantha said...

I think it was a Beatles single. But there's no way I'll ever know for sure, as I didn't take down the relevant information and have forgotten the facts. Thus the past fades a w a y